Conquer your FEAR of Soloing with a Looper Pedal

I played a terrible set last month. I found a way to get better. In this video, I'm using the Loop Core pedal from NUX to train myself. Much like Daniel from Karate Kid trained to defeat Cobra Kai.
This pedal is a great way to improve your coordination and timing while you're practicing. It also helps you to develop your improvisation skills.
Gear Used in the Video: (affiliate links)
NUX Loop Core Pedal: amzn.to/3r60P0J
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Strymon Iridium: sweetwater.sjv...
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Nux Pedals: amzn.to/3qUKko8
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#guitar #nux #guitarpedal

[@PatrickLimaspamcast]

I have some horror stories on stage…I’m glad I’m not the only one the relives those embarrassing moments in my mind all the time… …one time I was invited to play guitar and sing a song at a memorial service. The boom stand was one of those that had a worn out articulation so as I’m playing and singing, the wireless mic that makes the whole thing way too top heavy, is slowly falling down….i’m playing and can’t adjust it! I finally decide to use a break in the chord progression to adjust it with one hand and the whole thing gives out! The boom stand collapses, the wireless mic falls on stage and rolls down two steps landing close to a floor monitor…feedback feels the room. . . . In church. In a memorial service. With an open casket. Family members crying (even more now) in the front row… … I think I win…

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hahahaha oh no! Dude that is absolutely brutal. I’ve been there but not during a memorial. That must’ve been an interesting reception after it. Cheers

[@mistermatsuda]

Production, storytelling and overall content/info on your vids are top notch! Love it, new sub.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thank you! Been trying to up my game! Welcome aboard.

[@nilsx3020]

Happy Labor Day. I love your production quality. I wish more people would appreciate the effort going into your videos. And I’m totally digging the Jaguar. That’s one food group missing from my guitarsenal 😅

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks again dude! I'm just happy you guys are digging it. I think I am slowly finding my niche in what I want to say and how I say it. It's definitely not conventional for guitar KZbin but I feel it best represents how I feel about guitar and music. That might not net the quickest growing subscriptions but it does make it fun to keep making videos in the long run. And yes I am loving this Jaguar. It's so fun to play! If you can find one on reverb they go on sale all the time.

[@onenotesolo256]

Your videos are fantastic. Don’t lose the pedal demos - you put them in a real world musical contact (and in a mix, which most people don’t do). Great playing and some good real world advice on playing, inspiration, musical life hacks etc. The gags and video quality are the icing on the cake. Seriously good work.

[@joeyjojo8200]

Hi Alex, your video is the first video in my life I’ve heard such a good tone with a Jaguar that I can say: Yes, I wanna buy it! Does your Jag still have the stock pick-ups? And did you have to do lots of adjustments to make it sound so good?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

The Jaguar is really underrated. Stock everything still in this one. Just had to adjust the saddle and bridge a tiny bit. It is a brighter guitar so I just compensate on the amp and pedals for that. I think you'd dig it.

[@joeyjojo8200]

@@SuperdangerStudios Thanks, Alex! Stock pickups? Wow, they sounded great. The neck pickup sounds quite like a strat. I will definitely try it out when I’m in the guitarshop. Do you remember which of your drive pedals you used in this video and which one sounds the best with this Jag?

[@robertadams6895]

YEAH, Alex! 👁️ HEAR u, Doc! NICE stuff on that 1 to 6 loop. Whoo! U BETTER play!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Haha thank you my man! I’m trying to cook over here!

[@paulheartsongs]

Great video as always. The information you share is a level up. Thanks, man!! I play live at least x3 times per week and I still can’t throw in a lead I haven’t carefully thought through.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks for watching! Maybe writing a genera structure instead of note for note would be n easier first step? Although in a proper live setting I prefer to have my solos written out too!

[@sandroquinta1125]

Really nice video. Lead me to subscrive the channel! May you clarify me about Nux Loop Core Stereo? 1. Does it quantize? 2. Does it automatically processes the tempo of a loop to match a drum pattern like the previous models? 3. I want to put it at the end of my pedalboard, which as already an amp/cab simulation, and listen from the headphone output. Will I get a faithful recreation of the sound of my pedalboard or maybe colored? Thank you so much

[@slideguitarist]

Happy Labor Day Alex. Really enjoying your philosophical approach in your recent videos. Thanks for putting in all the work to create these entertaining segments.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks Again, Slide! Really trying to figure out the "why" on guitar lately. Why am I playing like this? Why do I like the sound of this? It's been really helpful so far and been trying to make it interesting for you guys! Thanks for your continued support, my friend. Cheers!

[@mellowfred8935]

Lol I’ve soloed before and thought it was awesome and then go back and listen to it and yikes 😳 I realized a couple things. One thing, watch your volume on your first track you want your overdub to be the loudest and also a small mess up don’t sound that bad until you listen back to it and it sounds terrible. Ha ha. great video thanks 🙏

[@SuperdangerStudios]

haha so crazy when listening back to your solo what you thought landed missed the runway completely haha. Cheers!

[@Popsarocker1]

The nod!! Hahaha I can so relate. During a gig where a song had no solo - but the singer gave the nod and I’m lost lol. No idea where to even start. What key am I in again!?! lol

[@SuperdangerStudios]

THE NOD! Many a time have I shied away from the gaze. But time waits for no man.

[@markanthonyganotice1498]

your video storytelling is remarkable sir. I'm always amaze with how you record this music. I hope you post about music production as well.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thank you so much. Really try to make it interesting for you guys! I’ll do a video on constructing a song in a DAW in the future for sure.

[@matthewtoeneboehn7784]

What are some options for getting a drum backing track in the loop without being tethered to a computer? I have a singular sound Aeros. Thanks!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

This pedal can output the drums and loop mono on the same output so this will work for that.

[@matthewtoeneboehn7784]

@@SuperdangerStudios ah gotcha. thanks for the reply.

[@DadaPoopoo]

Came for a pedal review. Stayed for the rare talent and raw authenticity. Left a little bit changed and subscribed.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Wow thank you! More to come!

[@mellowfred8935]

Super smart 👏👏👏

[@komapilot1]

Nice! Can you change the bank with your foot? The last version had a midi pedal that came with it and it doesn’t seem to work with this version

[@SuperdangerStudios]

I don’t think it can.

[@komapilot1]

I actually got it working great with my airtep midi control pedal, pleasantly surprised! I set it up so I can go up and down in the banks and turn the drums on and off, you can control any aspect of the pedal @@SuperdangerStudios

[@SuperdangerStudios]

@@komapilot1 oh nice I stand corrected!

[@deplinenoise]

Your production values are off the charts :)

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Dude thank you! Trying to make each one a little better

[@deplinenoise]

@@SuperdangerStudios really impressive work, must be an amazing show reel for clients too

[@stratocumulusnimbostratus328]

What drums were used?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

These are the drums that are in the pedal. There are a bunch of different patterns you can use that are included.

[@ToddRichmond]

one of the biggest challenges is getting comfortable with space. In one incarnation of my band, we went to a "sparse" lineup - bass (me), drums, vocals and sax. I would do some chord comping, but that's a lot of harmonic empty space and the tendency was to fill it up with - as you note - filler, while thinking about the next thing. Another revelation was coming to country music late in life. Having cut my teeth on classic rock, then jazz, the concept of long solos was the norm. Then I listen to country tunes and the soloist says something great in 8 bars. As they say, brevity is the soul of wit...

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Its so tempting to cut the tension of the silence. A skill I still keep having to hone. And no one gets in and out like a country soloist! haha. Cheers!

[@thepedalcreators]

That thumbnail made me click. Stayed for the music. Your love for playing guitar got me subscribed!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Haha I was just saying to my wife that the thumbnail might have been too weird for KZbin. Thank you for that info and showing me to trust my instincts! Stoked you dug the video and thanks for subscribing!

[@aperezdeal]

Coffee is the only reason I get up. Family, mortgage, groceries? Yeah sure but…

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hahaha

[@robertadams6895]

Ha ha ha ha!

[@jasonlee8497]

The old school rotary phone cracks me up every time. My youngest son ‘borrowed’ my looper pedal. Says he has to find it. Hmmmmm

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Haha I’m sure it’ll turn up in the least likely of places. I miss using rotary phones haha. Feels like you’re in a movie.

[@ericdietrich9848]

great advice on using a loop to work through solo anxiety... really appreciate seeing this - top notch stuff.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks man! It really opened my eyes. I still need more stage time though.

[@jasonthompson3964]

Wait, was that a Le Crueset French press?!? You bougie f! Another great vid!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Haha of course. I have expensive taste!

[@TheStringDojo]

Hey Alex, thanks, I've been looking for a Looper pedal and stereo is my choice, I got stereo time effects and now I have another option, this lil guy seem s to do more than the work done. If you have an ideas for videos list you may want to give us your take on theory and why its important, see you on the next one!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

It’s a great little looper pedal. Really easy to use. And yes I will for sure do one on theory. What is the biggest question you have on it?

[@TheStringDojo]

@@SuperdangerStudios well, I identify with you in the sense to quitting Music when I was playing local small clubs and University was starting to get hard, focus or die, and I opted to learn my electronics engineering and not music theory, so everything I know from it is a recollection of disorganized here and there, where all I created is from feel and ear, good or bad, but writing blocks are often generated by getting stuck in my musical mess, I'm 40 now and have a little more time at nights to learn, I'm planning on getting on board with Paul David's intermediate course, because I know that ability is not quite a barrier, its not being able to let go of memorized mechanical patterns or slowly going note per note and adding speed until it get me somewhere interesting, so, if you have ideas or a path for "us" I'll listen. Thanks, have a great Sunday.

[@mikem668]

I share your trumpet solo failure. Basin Street Blues, 8th grade, Jazz Band. I stand up, and I make a mistake. Thank goodness I kept going, but it was my last solo in front of an audience. Interestingly, I didn't have the problem when I could read. I agree with your description of what the brain is trying to do while playing music. I spent 15 years working in a research lab studying brain injury and rehabilitation. Many thought - this was just at the beginning of neural networks - that there were motor schemas (think scales) for activities of daily living like brushing your teeth. That can't be true, because optimization isn't worth it. Instead it's planning in action. Very much like music when you aren't reading. Your description also suggests the brain is doing different things based on knowledge, experience, and style at a bare minimum. And what you are focusing on. For example, Aimee Nolte has a great video on time. The masters she studied, like Bill Evans, almost always sped up. Sometimes you want to be early, sometimes late. So even using a metronome isn't straightforward. I want to address what's called chunking and hierarchy. Riffs are essentially chunks. So are scales. Hierarchy is the way the brain organizes them into a successful narrative, solo, or making a cup of coffee or brushing your teeth. But those riffs and scales can get in your way, because IMO you've chucked them before you've fully understood them. If you can reel them off in your sleep, you risk putting yourself and the audience to sleep. I feel like an idiot suggesting the following, because you are way better than I'll ever be. And because Advancing is something we've both done as kids when we learned open C on the trumpet, then pushed down a valve. Voila Advancing. The book The Advancing Guitarist offers a way of advancing through limitation. In my words, you have to solo, create music, without just using things you've already chunked. You suggested it when you said you needed to focus more on single lines. The trick is to limit yourself to one string, one finger at first. You become a sitar player. I've done this for four days. First on the E string. Last two on the G string, working on C Major and G Mixolydian. I do it at the end of my session. The Nux would be useful because the recommendation is to play against vamps in all the different modes. It's an amazing experience. Worth trying for four 15 minute sessions. If you hate it, you wasted an hour. I believe style is also at play. And John Mayer provides evidence for my theory. He talked about practicing for Dead & Company. He'd start down a path, and all of a sudden he realized he was lost. He was applying all of his musical chunks - years of knowledge and technique - but they didn't apply perfectly to the Dead's music. The Dead represented the musical version of planning in action. They listened. If the chunks get you into ruts or get you lost, you can simplify. Which opens your ears, hands, and mind and enables you to build new chunks, which adds opportunities within the old ones. Addition by subtraction. Love the channel and philosophy.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Mike! Thanks again for the thoughtful comment. All of these are great insights. The interplay between theory and musicality/style is very interesting. Obviously need both to get an idea across, but how much of each column is up to you. It's not a battle between the two, but it certainly is a constant balance. ALso I gotta try that single string idea. I used to do it with the top 3 strings, but never one string. Sounds like a great way to simplify and create temporary limitations to force a new solution. Cheers!

[@mikem668]

@@SuperdangerStudios I look forward to your thoughts on the single string idea. Below are some cut and paste excerpts from my Kindle edition of The Advancing Guitarist. I don't claim to understand it all. I'm using it to free myself up and improve my knowledge of the fretboard. At your level he recommends playing against modal vamps. **** Playing Up and Down a Single String (The Science of the Unitar) Three Principles of Left-Hand Movement: 1. Groupings (two, three, or four notes based on what the left hand can cover) 2. Hand-carries or shifts (moving to a higher pitched note with lower numerical finger; moving to lower pitched note with higher numerical finger; linking two or more different groupings) 3. Slides (using the same finger to play different consecutive pitches- no glissandi) Breakdown of Finger Possibilities: a. Four possibilities of one finger at a time (No groupings, no shifts, all slides) 1. 1st finger 2. 2nd finger 3. 3rd finger 4. 4th finger b. Six possibilities of two fingers at a time 1. 1 and 2 2. 1 and 3 3. 1 and 4 ... and so on. [He then moves to 2 adjacent string sets (6/5, 5/4...) followed by non-adjacent strings (6/4, 5/3...). I'll be dead before I get to these. 🙃] Temporary Rules: 1. Don't use any bends larger than a half step. You can only bend E to F, B to C. 2. Don't play the following notes: C# D# F# G# A# Db Eb Gb Ab Bb For our purposes, they are wrong. No exceptions. 3. Don't change strings. If you're soloing against G Mixolydian on the low E string, stay there. Be patient. Don't jump to another string just because you start to get bored or repetitive in your soloing. Maybe play less for a while, or maybe more. Or maybe softer, or maybe louder. (They don't call it improvising for nothin' you know!) But stay on that one string. For the time being, that one string is your entire instrument, your entire musical voice. (You really should listen to some good sitar music!) Observations: 1. Here are some things that you can do on one string that a piano player can't do at all: a. vibrato b. bending (remember, only half steps: B-C; E-F) c. hammer-ons/pull-offs d. glissandi e. harmonics (natural notes only) f. muffle the string g. change the tone quality by attacking the string in a different place.

[@simhonghuat]

Hello sir. What a great video! I am an Iridium user and I am amazed by the tones you are getting out of it. What I noticed about your signal chain is that you are running the reverb pedal after the Iridium, and then into an IR. Does that mean you turned off the cabsim on the Iridium and the IR is running from your DAW? I watched your other video on making the Iridium sound good withe the Fender preamp and your signal chain was similar. Thank you in advance. BTW, I'm running out to buy the NUX looper after this.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks for watching! Yes you are correct x I am running the Iridium in preamp mode and adding the IR in the DAW. Here is a video I did on it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rp2uZYujgsqdi6csi=0NsZlXfBQWgX3Kke Enjoy the looper and thanks for watching!

[@simhonghuat]

Thank you so much for your kind response! I also purchased the York Audio IRs some months back after watching your video btw.@@SuperdangerStudios